I notice that it is rubbish means it is bad, but can we say it is completely rubbish meaning it is completely bad in everyday English? Do native speakers of English say that, other than the obviously correct it is complete rubbish?

5 Answers
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In this instance, it's the noun "rubbish" being used as an adjectival metaphor, so the construction would be adv. + adj.

However, I think the phrase in British English is "complete rubbish", no? But you are correct, it is an idiomatic expression for "bad", which is an adjectival, not a noun. In that instance, you'd be using "complete rubbish" as adj. + noun, as a metaphorical adjective.

"Completely rubbish" would probably be most often used to refer to actual piles of rubbish, wherein nothing of value can be found.

I am a native speaker who says both 'completely rubbish' and 'complete rubbish'. I suspect I use them interchangeable as in 'This is complete(ly) rubbish', but I think kiamlaluno hints at the distinction.

He was a completely rubbish manager

This book is complete rubbish.

The first example has rubbish as an adjective and completely as an adverb, the second has rubbish as a noun and complete as an adjective. However,

He was completely rubbish as a manager.

He was a completely rubbish manager.

He was complete rubbish as a manager.

all sound okay to me. 'This book is completely rubbish' sounds odder, but, like I said, I suspect I say it. 'complete rubbish' really doesn't seem to be used in the US, as sometimes people simply don't understand me when I say it.

Complete rubbish is rare in the U.S. but not completely unknown. I’ve used it for years, as well as utter rubbish and unadorned rubbish, but it’s likely that I picked it up from reading when I was young.
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Brian M. ScottAug 28 '11 at 20:05

@Brian M. Scott - Agreed. However, completely rubbish is in fact fairly unkown in the USA. Grammatically, I guess you'd say we sometimes use "rubbish" as a noun, but haven't taken the extra step the UK has of making it an adjective.
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T.E.D.Aug 29 '11 at 17:46

Rubbish in both British and US English can be used as a noun in a metaphorical sense. Rubbish is stuff that you throw away (like "trash"), so saying something is "rubbish" is saying that it is worthless to the point where it should be thrown out.

However, in British English they take the extra step of making "rubbish" an adjective (a word that can be used to modify other nouns). In fact, this may well be the more common usage of it there. Thus "rubbish" can be used in some sentences in British English where it would make no sense in US English.

The phrase you gave is a good illustration of this. In the USA sense, "rubbish" is a noun, so it requires an adjective to modify it, like so:

This is complete rubbish.

Wheras in British English "rubbish" is preferred as an adjective, so it requires an adverb to modify it, not and adjective. So a Brit would instead say:

This is completely rubbish.

So the answer is that completely is good usage in British English, but not in USA English.